Child support in Florida should be paid until the child turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever comes later. Of course, if the child has special needs, the obligation to support the child financially may continue throughout the child’s life.
The order that a court issues requiring child support payments may state a different date when the paying parent may stop child support. If that is the case, the court order determines what should happen. A person should obey a court order. A local attorney in Florida would be able to analyze a person’s unique situation.
However, Florida law requires courts to state the end date for child support as the date when the child in question turns 18. A Florida court should issue an Income Withholding Order (IWO) with a child support order. The IWO should also state the end date for a child support obligation.
What a person should not do is stop making child support payments without a court order that authorizes them to stop paying. If a person makes their child support payments directly to the other parent and the court states an end date, a person may simply stop paying until the stated date arrives.
If a person believes that their child support order should be modified, for example, because circumstances have changed, they must first go to court to request modification of the court order.
Or, if a person believes that the facts of their situation justify terminating their child support obligation, e.g., because the child now lives with the parent paying the support to the other, they too need to go to court to settle the issue.
When Is Child Support Ordered?
In some cases, the duty to pay child support arises from a Florida divorce, as noted above. Or it may arise from a legal separation. A court may issue a child support order at the end of a paternity suit when the father of a child who is not married to the child’s mother seeks custody or visitation. Or a mother who is not married to her child’s father may ask a court to order the father to pay child support.
Whatever the type of case in which a child support order is made, as noted above, a child support order is legally binding on the parent who is ordered to pay support. There are negative consequences and penalties for failing to pay child support when a court in Florida orders it.
In Florida, child support payments are made by a parent who does not have custody to the parent who does have custody. In calculating child support, a Florida court refers to the state’s support guidelines, as noted above. A custodial parent does not pay support because it is assumed that they pay financial support for their child as a natural consequence of the fact that the child lives with them.
In making decisions about child support, a Florida court considers the following factors:
- The child’s best interest standard and what would serve the best interest of the child
- The type of custody arrangement that the parents have, e.g., whether it is joint or sole
- The age of the child or children on whose behalf the support is paid
- The total number of children each of the parents has
- The income of each parent
- Additional childcare expenses.
In some circumstances, a noncustodial parent may also have to pay retroactive child support in Florida. For example, the child might have lived with one parent while their divorce was in progress, and the parent who did not have custody did not pay any support. If that is the case, when the divorce is finalized, a court might order the noncustodial parent to pay child support for this past period of time.
How Is a Child Support Award Enforced?
Federal law requires that all states have a program to enforce child support obligations. Florida’s program is the Florida Department of Revenue Child Support Enforcement program (FDRCSE). It offers help to parents with getting or paying child support free of charge.
The FDRCSE offers a range of services to custodial parents who need child support as follows:
- The state can locate parents whose whereabouts are unknown.
- The state can help establish paternity.
- The state can help a custodial parent obtain child support in court.
- The state enforces existing support orders by collecting support and distributing it to the parent to whom it is owed.
The program usually begins with letters to the paying parent in an attempt to collect past-due support before any other enforcement actions begin. If this effort is not successful, other measures used to collect child support owed are as follows:
- Charging interest on support payments that are past due
- Increasing the amount that the agency withholds from a person’s paycheck
- Setting up a payment plan
- Intercepting federal and state tax refunds
- Intercepting winnings from sports betting
- Denying loans, grants, or passports
- Placing liens on property.
How Can I Avoid a Child Support Increase?
A person may be curious as to whether the law entitles them to a change in their child support award. If this is the case, they may want to talk to a Florida family law attorney to determine what their potential obligation could be.
It is important to note that the Florida child support guidelines do not automatically adjust an award of child support. A parent who wants an increase or a decrease would have to petition the court to modify their support order. Another possible approach is for the 2 parents to negotiate an increase or decrease.
How Can I Stop Paying Child Support?
In some situations, a person might be able to end their child support obligation and get a court to order it. For example, if the child in question should start living with the noncustodial parent, that parent should go to court and ask for a change. They would no longer need to pay child support to the parent who has become the noncustodial parent. This is one of several reasons to close a child support case.
One thing a person does not want to do is to just stop paying child support unless they are confident that, legally, their obligation to pay it has come to an end. They want to go to court and have the court modify the amount of child support they pay or order it to end.
Generally, in Florida, a child support obligation terminates if any of the following events take place:
- The child dies.
- The child is legally emancipated.
- A court terminates a parent’s rights.
- The child becomes self-supporting, and the custodial parent relinquishes parental control.
- The child reaches the age of 18 or 19 if the child is still in high school when they turn 18.
Florida law allows child support payments to continue until the child graduates from high school.
The unemployment of the parent who pays child support might justify ending the support obligation under some circumstances. If a person should lose their job and it is beyond their power to land other employment, they would need to petition the court to modify the child support immediately.
The job loss would have to be significant and lasting. For example, the person may have been injured or now suffers from a disability significantly affecting their earning capacity. The person would want to seek modification of their child support obligation in this case.
Do Child Support Payments End Automatically?
A valid court order may state when child support should come to an end, e.g., because the child in question reaches the age of 18 or 19 if the child is in high school when they turn 18.
As noted above, if a person pays their child support directly to the other parent, they may stop on the date when their court order says that the obligation ends.
If a parent pays through the FDRCSE, they need to go to court to get an order ending their disbursement unit account. Even if their employer stops making child support deductions and there is an Income Withholding Order stating an end date for the child support obligation, the person should still get an order terminating the disbursement unit account.
If a person pays child support through the FDRCSE, then several different agencies must become aware of the child support termination order. Usually, the local clerk of the court takes care of this, but there may be issues. A person might wish to check with the clerk of the court.
In the end, the burden is on the parents to make sure child support terminates at the appropriate time. If the county child support agency does not do anything on behalf of the parent, the parent may need to file a motion in court to get a court order terminating child support.
How Do I Get Child Support Arrears Dismissed?
Sometimes, a person may fall behind on their basic child support obligations. If a noncustodial parent who pays child support owes unpaid support when child support ends, they remain responsible for paying off the arrears. The order for the unpaid amount may still be enforced. The debt for past unpaid support is not eliminated. It is unlikely that a person would be able to get child support arrears dismissed.
Under certain limited circumstances, a court might relieve a person of their obligation to pay past-due child support. A person would have to go to court and make a motion to dismiss child support arrears. However, escaping a debt for past due child support can be difficult.
If a person’s circumstances have changed and they have a legitimate reason for which they cannot pay child support, they should go to court and ask to have the amount of the support they pay reduced.
Do I Need a Lawyer for Help with Ending Child Support?
You may have reached the date on which your child support payment should end, or you may want to change the amount you pay because of a change in circumstances.
LegalMatch.com can put you in touch with a Florida child support lawyer who can analyze your case and help you make any changes to your support order that may fit your new life circumstances. Your lawyer will be able to end support payments if the circumstances justify that.
